Your greatest strength could be your greatest downfall.

On this episode, Keith talks about the biggest mistake that entrepreneurs make that could be killing your business.

Amongst other things, Keith discusses:

– Why most podcasters are not in it for the long-haul

– The real danger of switching platforms too fast, and

– Why you should NEVER focus on more than 3 platforms at a time .

So listen here to find out about The Surest Way To Ruin Your Business, or read the Transcript below.

 

 

 

Transcript

 

 

 

So there’s one way to make sure that your business doesn’t succeed, to fail spectacularly, and this is it.

Welcome to 7-Figure Business Secrets!

Ok, so it’s a lovely Sunday afternoon, a little bit windy.

If you see me looking over to my left a little bit it’s actually because my son’s playing soccer just out here.

So if it looks as if they’re going to score a goal, I think they’re two-nil down at the moment, but, yeah, it’s quite close.

Yeah, so if I suddenly look aside and you see me sort of going “Yay” or “no”, you know what’s happening, right?

Anyway, what I want to talk to you about is, yeah, the surest way I know to fail your business.

 

What You Could Be Doing

 

And it’s something very tempting because it sounds like a shortcut to success, and the margin between it being a shortcut to success and an absolute failure is wafer-thin.

So this is what I want to explain to you.

And it’s all around getting traffic and sales, and marketing quickly, right?

There are, yeah, probably hundreds of ways of getting sales in, I mean hundreds.

There’s all the different types of advertising you could do, all the different places, so from television to internet to desktop to print to little brochures to newspapers, so many different ways, right, of just getting your ad out there.

And then there’s so many different ways of getting your message out there, so all these different types of content marketing online, so from podcasting to blogs to Facebook to what else, Instagram, YouTube groups, the whole lot, right?

There are so, so many ways, and even offline, giving presentations and speeches and meet-ups, and yeah, just the face-to-face selling.

So you have this huge array of different ways of essentially getting people to know about your business and also getting your marketing out there and getting people attracted, yeah?

So massive amount, hundreds, probably even thousands of ways.

 

 

The Biggest Mistake Entrepreneurs Make

 

This is the biggest mistake I see entrepreneurs making.

You ready?

They try and concentrate on too many.

And basically what happens is that they basically, yeah so, if you try and do 20 things all at once, first of all, you don’t do any one of them good enough, right?

But the other thing is that you think that all these 20 things are failing, so you start the new shiny objects are very attractive, so you start doing number 21, number 22, number 23, and I see this all the time.

Have a look at podcast episodes, right, and you’ll see, first of all I think there’s something like four or five hundred thousand active podcasts at the moment, no, I think it’s even more than that, but it’s huge, right?

But you have a look at the amount of podcasts who’ve gotten past episode 10, right, and you’re suddenly down into maybe 100,000.

And then you look at podcast episodes that have gone past 50, right, dramatically shorter again, right?

 

More focus doesn’t necessarily get more achieved. There are 2 parts to successful focus. You need both.

On this episode, Keith talks about how a lot of people have gotten it all wrong about what it really means to focus.

Amongst other things, Keith discusses:

– The bad advice that’s out there about focus

– The 2 aspects of focus that, if you don’t nail, will get you into big trouble, and

– What the Next Big Thing is for his business.

So listen here to find out about Focus More? I Don’t Think So, or read the Transcript below.

 

 

 

Transcript

 

Hey, and welcome to the Problem with Focus edition of 7-Figure Business Secrets!

Morning!

Yeah, yet again, stuck in traffic, so it gives me a chance to talk to you guys.

How are you?

Yeah, so I just want to talk to you about focus.

I’ve listened to a few podcasts lately, and actually two clients as well, and talked about focus.

I think everyone gets it.

Focus is really important.

You know, when you hear people like Bill Gates and Warren Buffet, and who else, Richard Branson, coming out and saying, you know what, the number one driver of their success has been their ability to focus, yeah, it’s a really good hint for all of us that focus is really important.

So I don’t think I need to convince you that focus is important.

I think you get that.

 

Big Trouble

 

The problem that I’m hearing again and again and again though, is a misunderstanding about focus.

And it boils down to basically, I think a misunderstanding that actually, there’s two parts to focus, and it’s really important that we, as entrepreneurs and business owners, understand that, because there’s so much to distract us and, yeah, pull at our time that unless we get the difference between the two aspects of focus and unless you nail both of them, we’re in big trouble.

Big, big trouble.

And that’s what I’m seeing all the time.

And there’s some really bad advice around at the moment on focus, so yeah, I want to give you the lowdown, the insight, so that you can actually go and make up your own mind on this, and yeah, and hopefully agree with me that actually there’s two really important things, and you need both of them.

So, yeah, where is this coming from?

 

My Next Big Thing

 

Well, I’d say about three months ago, I started on this journey that I’m still on at the moment, which was, what’s the next big thing for me?

And yeah, it was an interesting journey because, you know what I’m trying to do, I’m trying to make sure that entrepreneurs and business owners like me and you, we can set up easily, we can reduce the risk, and our likelihood of success is far greater than it is at the moment, and lots of reasons for that.

But basically, one of the main reasons why entrepreneurs quite often fail, yeah in fact the main reason by a long way, is actually it’s difficult.

You need to know a lot of stuff.

You need to know a lot of stuff, and you need to be able to adapt what’s out there to your own individual business and your own individual circumstances.

And that takes quite a lot of effort.

And the way it’s currently done at the moment is, yeah, you’ve basically got to go and figure it out yourself.

You’ve got to go and figure out your ads.

You’ve got to go and figure out how to do sales.

You have to figure out your product.

You have to figure out how to build it.

You have to figure out how to build a team.

You have to figure out all of that,

If you truly believe your product or service is fantastic, then you need to prove it.

On this episode, Keith talks about an over-the-top technique that guarantees your customers will always be tempted to try out your product.

Amongst other things, Keith discusses:

– How every customer is always nervous about parting with cash

– The outrageous risk-reversal strategy that even the most sceptical of customers won’t be able to resist, and

– Why your offer better be good.

So listen here to learn about The No-Brainer Sales Approach That Hardly Anyone Ever Uses, or read the Transcript below.

 

 

 

Transcript

 

Hey, if you’re looking to increase your sales, or double your income, or basically sell any products or services online or offline, then you’re in for a treat today.

Welcome to Seven Figure Business Secrets!

A glorious sunshine day here, perfect day to have a traffic jam.

So here I am in the middle of a traffic jam, first one I’ve had in ages, speaking to you it’s brilliant.

I love traffic jams.

It gives me the opportunity to chat to you.

 

Most Businesses Don’t Use It

 

But something really important on my brain today, I just want to highlight it to you.

And it’s basically probably the number one way of increasing your sales.

This is not rocket science.

It’s not brand new.

It’s been around for donkey’s and donkey’s and donkey’s years.

And for some reason, most businesses don’t use it.

So, I’m going to share with you, hopefully you’re already using it, but if you’re not, you have an amazing opportunity.

And if you are, I’m going to show you how to really treat this, so it’s absolutely amazing for you and works amazing.

So, you know, if you go to buy something new, right, and you’re going to part with, let’s say it’s ¢100, and you’re going to buy something.

So let’s say it’s even a washing machine or whatever, right?

 

It’s A Risk

 

There’s always a nervousness, yeah?

You’re basically going to give away money, and you’re not always sure what it is you’re going to get, so basically it’s a risk, yeah?

And you know that feeling.

It’s like, okay, I need to do a bit more research.

Or what happens if this doesn’t work out?

Or what happens if it breaks?

Or these are just going to run off with my money, and I’m going to get nothing in return.

Or maybe it’s not going to work for me.

 

Nervous About Parting With Cash

 

So it’s all this risk stuff is going around your mind, and you’re always a bit anxious before parting with that cash, yeah?

Well, your customer’s going through the exact same when they want to buy off you.

So you’ve basically, you’ve made them the offer.

They know about you, so Know, Like, and Trust, so they know about you.

And they’re probably liking you.

And now you’re onto the last phase, which is: How are they going to trust you?

How are they going to basically get over that last hurdle, that last bit of nervousness that’s going around in their brain?

And you better believe it, every customer, whether it’s a new customer or an old customer, is always nervous about parting with cash, right?

You’re nervous about parting with cash.

Your customer is too.

 

Risk Reversal

 

If you choose a business model that has a negative impact on people’s lives, be prepared for the consequences.

On this episode, Keith talks about what bothers him most about the Uber and Facebook business models.

Amongst other things, Keith discusses:

– The massive opportunity us entrepreneurs have to change the world

– Why some business models are a destructive force for change, and

– Your capability as an entrepreneur and business owner.

So listen here to find out about The BIG Trap That Uber and Facebook Have Fallen Into, or read the Transcript below.

 

 

 

Transcript

 

Hi and welcome to the “Be Careful What You Wish For When You Want to Change the World” edition of Seven-Figure Business Secrets!

Okay yeah, so this has been mulling around the brain.

Few things I heard lately, and I suppose the beauty about doing what I do is I get to work with yeah, loads of really cool entrepreneurs.

 

Changing The World

 

And cool entrepreneurs are changing the world, always changing the world.

I don’t know about you but, you know, I have this vision for the world that is a lot different to, at least my part of the world would be a lot different because of what I’m doing, than how it is currently.

So, in my world, entrepreneurs are going to create bigger businesses, faster, with a lot less effort and way less chance of failure.

And what that’s going to do, and here’s the cool thing, is it means that people who at the moment are holding back, worrying about failing and whether their idea will work or not, they’re going to be a lot more confident because their chance of success will be so much greater because… I help them.

Or not really, all I do is I help people figure out what’s actually going on in their brain and introduce them to new concepts and they join them up in their brain and wey-hey, it works!

But that’s how I help people.

Anyway, that’s my view of changing the world, and a lot of the people I work with, they’ve got similar cool ideas and working through.

 

What Bothers Me

 

But I was just thinking, some of the big tech companies, right, and the one that bothers me a bit is say Uber, for example.

So they’re changing the world but the way they phrase it, is very negative.

So they’re putting taxi drivers out of business because they cost too much.

They’re going to put lorry drivers out of business too, and all of this.

It’s almost like a detrimental-type change.

Could you imagine all, there’s whatever, two million lorry drivers suddenly out of business because Uber’s replaced them and all these taxi drivers that are up in arms, and they’re no longer able to provide livelihoods for their families.

It’s not exactly great thing.

Could you imagine being an Uber, all these clever people at Uber waking up every morning and going, “Hmmm, who am I going to put out of business today? And whose livelihood am I going to crush?”

It’s not very inspiring.

 

Destructive Force

 

And I think with a little thought they could do a hell of a lot better.

They could be more proactive about, you know, they could use their technology for good, technology for creating more jobs and creating more meaningful jobs.

Not the low grade entry jobs, which I think they’re currently associated for.

And I know that those clever people could actually do it.

But their mantra has been crush competition by low price entry and all of that.

So they’ve already set themselves up as quite a des...

If you’re not meeting your customers where they are, then you’re actively ignoring them.

On this episode, Keith talks about how to ensure you’re making your business available to all your potential customers, not just some of them.

Amongst other things, Keith discusses:

– How different communication platforms often have very little audience crossover

– What platforms he’s currently using to meet all of his prospects, and

– Why he’s seriously thinking about planning a direct-mail campaign.

So listen here to find out how to STOP Ignoring 95% Of Your Customers, or read the Transcript below.

 

 

 

Transcript

 

 

 

Hey, you know you’re probably ignoring about 95%, maybe even 99% of your customers?

So if that bothers you, then welcome to this edition of Seven-Figure Business Secrets!

Hey, yeah, so not exaggerating.

 

How Are You Communicating With Your Customers?

 

You’re ignoring at least 99% of, well, 95%, probably 99% of your customers.

Back story to this is you might have seen I’ve just launched my podcast on Spotify, so yeah, if you listen on Spotify, welcome to the show!

How are you doing?

Glad you’re here, and if you’re not, here’s the thing.

You could be listening to this show on YouTube.

You could be listening to this show on my blog post.

You could be listening to the show on Spotify or TuneIn Radio or in so many other places, or maybe this actual blog post, this actually started off as a blog post about a year and a half.

So I used to rock up once a week, open my laptop and actually write what it is I’m telling you now on video on my blog post.

So the only way two years ago that you could actually get this content was to actually go and visit my website, to open up my blog post, to find the latest episode, and then go and read it, yeap?

But since then, because I realised not everyone does that, most customers, and your customer is the exact same, most customers have a preferential way of being communicated to.

And that’s what I wanted to share with you on this episode is, yeah, how are you communicating to your customers, and are you communicating to your customers in the way they want to be communicated to?

Because that’s a big, big deal.

 

Very Little Audience Crossover

 

So for example, if you’re listening to this on iTunes, that’s probably the way that you like to be communicated to.

You probably don’t even know that this is actually available, this exact same episode with me on video, yeah, not even just on the podcast but on video in my car, is available on YouTube.

You can just click there and watch it, or you could actually go to my blog and you could download a PDF of all of this in writing, and read it all.

You can even print it off.

So all that is available and the reason it’s there is that about 20% of my listeners to this actually come from iTunes.

I don’t know Spotify, it’s too brand new.

About 30% of people actually go and view this video on LinkedIn, for example.

There’s about 10 or 15% on Facebook, but the point is, is that there’s very little crossover between all these different audiences.

It tends to be that people who like YouTube like YouTube, people who like Facebook like Facebook, people who like LinkedIn like LinkedIn.

That’s how they like to get their community.

People who like podcasts like podcasts.

People who like reading stuff like reading stuff.

People who like watching me on video, God help them.

Get a life!

Ignore this at your peril.

On this episode, Keith addresses some feedback he received from a previous episode and agrees that he might have been a little remiss with his business advice.

Amongst other things, Keith discusses:

– Why facts and figures are not important at all when completing a sale

– How an unlikeable salesperson can still make amazing sales , and

– Why it’s so essential you follow the advice in episode #63.

So listen here to find out How To Be A Dead-Broke Business Owner, or read the Transcript below.

 

 

 

Transcript

 

Hey, and welcome to the “How To Be A Very Poor Business Owner” edition of Seven-Figure Business Secrets!

Hey, so hopefully your business is, you’ve got an intention that your business is going to do well, you’re going to make money from it, and you do not want to be poor.

You don’t want to be one of those business owners struggling with bills every single day, and wondering how you’re going to pay the salaries, and when are you going to be able to pay the rent, and all of that type of stuff, right?

We don’t want that for you.

 

Know. Like. Trust.

 

But here’s why I want to talk to you about it, because I made an episode, I think it’s number 63, which is absolutely critical, which was the three important things about making sales.

Because, let’s face it, if you make sales, you make profitable sales, hey, you’re never going to be a poor business owner, yeah?

And that’s the game we play, so we want profitable sales.

And I basically, I broke it down to say that listen, the most important thing about making sales is, first of all, you have to be known.

Secondly, you have to be liked, and third, you have to be trusted, right?

And basically what’s happened over the past few weeks is, there’s been a few comments coming back going that, “Well hang on a second, I don’t think you have to be liked to make a sale.”

It’s been a bit fuzzy, right?

 

Not Doing My Job

 

And what I wanted to do is lay it down right now, that if you don’t believe that know, like, and trust is the fundamental, absolutely fundamental of having a profitable business, then I’m not doing my job right, I haven’t explained this right, okay?

So I’m going to go through a few of the questions that I got back, and just re-point it out, and why I believe that know, like, and trust, including like, is absolutely critical to you having the profitable business that you want, and actually making money out of it, and having the lifestyle you want for your family, yeah?

That’s what we’re all in it for, right?

So this is really, really important.

So know, like, and trust, okay?

So if you have a business, you have products and services that you’re trying to sell, right?

Now, I don’t think we’re going to argue that if no one knows about them, you’re not going to have a chance to sell, you’re not going to make any money, right?

So I don’t think there’s any doubt that knowing is really important, so getting out there and advertising, and telling people about what you do, absolutely critical, yeah?

So we don’t disagree on that, and I don’t think anyone did.

 

Trust Does Matter

 

And the last one, the trust thing, there are a few people who said, “Listen, I buy things sometimes when I don’t fully trust it.”

I’ll put it this way, that yes,

The greatest waste of time is being really busy doing lots of things that don’t matter.

On this episode, Keith talks about how he used the Lean Six Sigma approach to make a big impact on his team’s productivity that was so simple, it felt like cheating.

Amongst other things, Keith discusses:

– Why most productivity tactics are a complete waste of time

– How what you think may be the most effective thing to do often is not, and

– What Abraham Lincoln knew about planning and execution.

So listen here to find out about Productivity For Cheats, or read the Transcript below.

 

 

 

Transcript

 

Hey, and welcome to the “Business Owner’s Guide to Productivity” edition of 7 Figure Business Secrets!

So productivity, right?

I just got off a call with one of my inner circle clients.

And yeah, we just had a really cool discussion about productivity.

And basically what she’s at is, she’s very busy, just like every bloody entrepreneur and business owner.

There’s so much to do, and you never get enough, and at the end of the day, you always feel as if you’re missing something, yeap?

So her big question was well how do I get more productive?

How do I get more things done?

And really great conversation.

Typical problem.

But the beauty is, there’s a really good a-ha insight to productivity that once you get it, you never forget.

Never forget it, ever.

Forget The Tactics

 

And no I’m not going to be telling you “Oh you need to clear your inboxes every night” and “Oh you need to,” you know, those little tactics, seven key tactics for improving your productivity, including, I don’t know, a notebook at the side of your bed, do you know, all those things you see on the net.

I’m not going to tell you anything like that, because productivity for business owners is so much simpler.

So much simpler.

It’s basically, there’s really two things you have to get your head around, right?

And the two things you know already, you absolutely know them.

 

2 Essential Components

 

One is that productivity is made up of two things.

* One is being busy, so yeah, getting things done.

* And the second thing is being effective, so getting the right things done, yeah?

And the two are very, very different, yeah?

 

Being Busy

 

If you subscribe to say, you know, Dave Allen, he does “Get Things Done,” that’s his big thing.

And it’s all about essentially getting more things done, so the being busy part.

And his thing is about, you know, you clear your e-mails every night, you basically put things on to-do lists and you cross them off and you have aims to yourself.

And Pomodoro, you know, give yourself 25 minutes to get as much things done as possible.

That’s very much his side of doing things, yeah?

So when you read his book it’s all around yeah, you will actually do more stuff, yeah?

 

Being Effective

 

And then the other side is coming, I suppose, from the Lean Six Sigma side, which is very much my engineering background, which is, there is no point doing anything unless it’s the right thing, and some things are way more better to do than others,that when you pull one lever, you will get up to eight times the effect as if you pull another lever.

And that’s sort of coming from the Pareto Effect, or the 80/20 Rule, that not everything is equal, yeah?

And it’s very simple.

I remember this was rammed home to me about,

Successful business owners actively manage their fears instead of ignoring them.

On this episode, Keith talks about a really honest conversation he had with one of his clients on a subject that us business owners don’t really grapple with very often.

Amongst other things, Keith discusses:

– The 2 big business fears that we don’t talk about enough

– How the fear of success can be much more crippling than the fear of failure, and

– Why you’re never going to get rid of your business fears.

So listen here to find out about The 2 Biggest Business Fears, or read the Transcript below.

 

 

 

Transcript

 

Hey and welcome to the “Handling Business Fears” edition of 7-Figure Business Secrets!

Hey guys!

As you can see, yes, it’s the middle of summer here in Ireland.

As you can see, the sun is not blazing into the car.

It’s not incredibly warm.

Well, it is dry so we’ll give it that, but basically our summer is back to normal Irish summers.

So hope your summer’s going fine.

But, but, but, but, but what I want to talk to you about is something that, yeah, really cool conversation I had with one of my (sorry hang on a sec), my coaching mastermind clients.

And yeah, I think it’s something that affects us all.

And it was actually at the time, I sort of glossed over it.

 

Really Honest Conversation

 

Over the last week, I’ve really thought about the question that he asked and, yeah, and how honest and open he was with a subject that I don’t think us business owners really grapple with very often.

So I asked him, could I actually share it with you and he said, “Yeah, yeah, yeah.”

Yeah, so protecting his name and identity and all that, but it was a really honest conversation about something that, yeah, we need to be talking about a lot more.

And basically it was, it was a question, we were just chatting through his business.

He’d had a few really good sales since we started working together and things coming together for him and yeah.

I forget what it was but he’s basically, he started getting a bit tetchy on the call.

I said to him, “What is it? What’s going on?”

And he basically said, “Oh it just doesn’t feel right.”

And basically I asked him a question, almost a throwaway question, I said, “Are you fearing something? Is something bad going to happen?”

He said, “That’s it.”

He said, “I’m fearful about what’s going to happen.”

 

Fear Of Failure

 

So started exploring that question.

It turned out that actually there were two things he was fearful about that I think actually, if we’re honest, we’re all fearful, all fearful, about.

It’s just that I think he did a brilliant job at actually basically describing it and getting, yeah, getting words and phrases around it.

And the two things, to boil it all down, there are two fears that I think we all face.

The first fear was, yeah, basically the fear that things won’t work out which is, yeah, business 101.

Of course, we’re going to have that fear.

Originally when he came to me, that was actually the fear he wanted solving, which was he was genuinely fearful that his business wasn’t going to work out and he wasn’t doing the right things.

And he wasn’t going to earn enough money in time.

And his savings were going to run out and, yeah, basically, yeah, that it would take him too long to go and figure out what it is that he should have been working...

Business without sales is not a business. Here’s all you need to know.

On this episode, Keith takes us on a whistle-stop tour of the strategy that sits behind all sales that most of us know, but are probably not implementing.

Amongst other things, Keith discusses:

– How most struggling businesses are chasing the wrong type of sale

– Why all customers are not created equal, and

– The beauty of the affiliate model.

So listen here to find out All You Need To Know About Sales In 10 Minutes, or read the Transcript below.

 

 

 

Transcript

 

Hey and welcome to the “Grow More Sales” edition of 7-Figure Business Secrets!

Okay really cool episode for you today, it’s all about how to grow sales, and we’re not going to go into the wishy-washy tactics and everything.

I’m going to give you the strategy that sits behind all sales, all sales, all your current sales and all your future sales, and it’s the strategy that sits behind every single business.

The thing is you know this or at least you probably know most of the components, but you’re probably not implementing at all.

You’re probably missing pieces or forgotten about things and hopefully as I go through these topics, I’ve actually written them down to make sure I don’t forget them.

These are critically important to you and yeah, if you need to grow sales, need to get more cash in the door, need more revenue, you need to listen to this.

Why?

Because all sales are not equal.

Some types of sales are really easy to get, some types of sales are really hard to get, some types of sales are really profitable and some types of sales are just not, okay?

 

The Wrong Type Of Sale

 

So basically where this came from I was chatting to a very successful client during the week and basically his whole thing was, I need sales, I need sales and his revenue targets he has to hit and he wasn’t quite hitting them, and he wanted me to, sort of, just have a look and help him on a certain aspect.

And yeah, basically the conversation was one of the conversations I quite regularly have, and I realised I need to have this conversation with you guys because basically telling him that actually where he was focused was probably the reason he wasn’t getting enough sales.

He was focused on the wrong type of sale and he had not one, but two huge goldmines just sitting there that, in the space of a week, he was able to tap into and whoosh, really cool, yeah?

So hopefully listening to this today, you’ll realise you’ve got a few goldmines you can tap into right away, and get growing your sales, like really quickly, okay?

So let’s start at the basics here, okay?

This is typically where I start with everyone which is, okay more sales.

 

For Cold Customers:

 

As soon as you hear that, most people think, oh yeah, I need more customers and in their mind they’re thinking, oh yeah, ads or shows or, you know, all those typical things you go out there and you grab new customers and you bring them back into your business, yeah?

That is one type of getting new sales and even that one breaks into cold customers and warm customers and what do I mean by that is, is that yeah you can go out and you can try and grab, put ads out there and grab people who haven’t heard about you and bring them in the door and sell to them.

Now that is hard work, okay, you typically have to pay quite a bit of money to go out and advertise and attract them in, and you’ve got to convince them and eventually they’ll buy a sale and typically they won’t buy a fortune,

There’s a lot of nonsense out there about sales and marketing, especially online. Effective sales and marketing boils down to just these 3 things.

On this episode, Keith shares that, in his experience, how well your prospects get to know, like and trust you and your business is key to making the sale.

Amongst other things, Keith discusses:

– How to get your prospects to Know, Like, and Trust you

– Which one of the three is the most important and yet often overlooked, and

– Why there are NO sales shortcuts.

So listen here to find out about Know. Like. Trust, or read the Transcript below.

 

 

 

Transcript

 

Hey, welcome to the déjà-vu edition of 7-Figure Business Secrets!

You’ll never guess what I’ve just done.

I’ve spent the last 10 minutes talking into my video camera, and the video camera was never on.

So I’m going to tell you all about, it sounds so weird, it sounds as if everything is déjà-vu to me because it is, I’ve just spoken about this in the last few minutes and I forgot to press the on button.

So, note-to-self, press on before you go and video yourself.

The Last Thing You Should Be Doing

 

So anyway, doesn’t take away from the fact that what I did tell you about but never recorded is actually really important, and it’s all around the secret to sales and to actually making sales.

This is the thing that a lot of people get wrong is they try and sell to make a sale, but that’s actually the last thing you should be doing.

What most of us should be doing is not making a sale.

There’s actually three really important things you should be doing before we even attempt to make a sale, and it’s only if you do those three things that the sale will actually become likely or not likely.

Well actually, likely, as of course, because we’re all great salespeople, yeah?

 

Spin Selling

 

And it’s actually a secret that I learnt about 15, 16 years ago from a sales consultant and he was actually teaching us a thing called “spin selling” which is actually still around.

It’s actually a really good consultative sales methodology but the three words that I want to share with you are, resonated with me at the time and made complete sense and as I applied them to my business back then and also as I apply them to my clients’ business now, you just see huge differences because, yeah, we all get sales wrong and actually always, if my sales start dropping, I know it’s one of these three things I’m doing wrong.

So the first thing, you have to remember that there’s basically three things that you need to do in order if someone’s going to make a sale from you.

 

1. Know

 

And the three things are, first of all, the person has to know you, yeah?

If they don’t know you, how on earth are they going to make a sale from you, or you’re going to make a sale to them?

 

2. Like

 

Second one is, they need to like you and this is sort of a bit counterintuitive.

I think we all like to think that sales is, sales people get together and they write contracts and shake hands and it’s all legal teams get involved but actually, almost every sale is actually, it’s a person to person.

Even if you’re in business and deal with big companies, actually you’re selling to people and almost every person, they like to like the person before they sell it.

I know in my own situation, I’ve been in so many situations where it comes down to a choice between two or three vendors and guess what?